This invention relates to a heater for an injection molding nozzle.
Injection molding processes and apparatus typically involve heating materials which are solid at room temperature to elevated temperatures where the solid materials are converted to a fluid capable of flowing readily through tubes, barrels, bores and channels of various shapes and sizes that direct the fluid to the cavity of a mold where the fluid is cooled and formed into a solid part. Heating of the fluid flow channels in injection molding machine apparatus and processes has been attempted in a variety of configurations and devices that have been designed to achieve the most efficient contact possible between a source of heat and the paths/channels through which the fluid is routed. In order to maintain injected fluid at an elevated temperature, various heating devices such as wires, coils, tubes and the like are placed in direct contact/engagement with the housings of the apparatus. Such heating devices/methods rely on conduction of heat throughout the body or matrix of the components to travel to the walls of the fluid flow channels.